The 0-3 Bears will have to play better than .500 the rest of the way to improve on last year's 6-10 mark.

The only losing team from last year poised to make a significant jump is the New York Giants, off to a 3-0 start after finishing 7-9.

There is still hope for those who recall the Colts started 2-2 last year en route to their 13-3. But there don't appear to be any Peyton Manning-Edgerrin James combinations on the horizon.

Quick quotes: This was quote week in the NFL, led by spurned Jet Keyshawn Johnson, traded to the Bucs.

As good as Johnson is with words, however, teammate Warren Sapp remains undisputed champion. Sapp had this take on the trade:

"You don't let a player go like that. That's like me being traded away from the Bucs. I mean, you just don't give away your best player for two first-round picks.

"You can get 40 first-round picks and maybe never find another player like that. You've got a guy who catches 85-90 balls a year. Ten or 12 touchdowns. ... I don't understand how you can say we'll be fine with two first-round picks. Who did they get with those?"

Informed that the Jets got South Carolina linebacker John Abraham and West Virginia tight end Anthony Becht, Sapp responded, "Exactly."

Sapp said initial rumors about the trade seemed so preposterous to him that he believed "it was me and Derrick Brooks out the door. They were going to destroy the team just for offense."

Sapp said the Jets should have paid Johnson what he was asking. "I'm sure they're not hurting for money up there. The team's owned by Johnson & Johnson (Woody Johnson). Shoot, they've got plenty of money. They sell enough talcum and baby powder."

Telling it: Fox broadcaster Terry Bradshaw isn't Howard Cosell, but listen to his take on former Redskins quarterback and current radio announcer Sonny Jurgensen: "Sonny Jurgensen gained [owner] Daniel Snyder's ear and told him how great Jeff George was and then Snyder ran out and signed him. Why? I don't know. Sonny played 18 years and only made four playoff appearances. Jurgensen and George have one thing in common--they've never won anything."

The truth hurts: Seattle cornerback Shawn Springs on San Diego quarterback Ryan Leaf, who has thrown three touchdown passes and 21 interceptions in 13 games: "I like Ryan Leaf. ... You know why I like Ryan Leaf? Because Ryan Leaf will talk trash the whole time and try to throw at you. He's not smart enough to know [better] after you pick him off a couple of times. He'll keep throwing at you because he's so competitive."

Offensive talk: Baltimore coach Brian Billick prefers offense: "To get to the championship level, you have to have multiple playmakers on offense. I'm not sure the '85 Bears could win the Super Bowl today.

"Look at the teams that have won over the last couple of years and see what they've done on offense. The Jaguars, Rams, Broncos and Vikings can really move the ball."

Maybe so. The 1985 Bears didn't win in 1986 either.

Keyshawn who? Jimmy Smith is the leading receiver in the league with 27 catches for 384 yards and four touchdowns. In case you haven't heard, he plays for Jacksonville and tends to get ignored.

"Oh, yeah," Smith said. "You take Keyshawn. He is considered one of the best receivers and you look at the numbers. The numbers will tell you who the best receivers are. I'm not saying Keyshawn is not a good receiver--he's a very good receiver. But he gets all the attention.

"Then again, I am not the type of person ... really, I don't want all that attention. It's a big distraction. I like to go out quietly and take care of business on the field and become one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the game today."

Former best: Jerry Rice is not going quietly into the good night of his career. The 49ers have promised him a $1 million bonus if he retires after this season as a 49er. Rice can't see it.

"I'm not going to retire," he said this week. "I most definitely plan on playing in 2001. But I have to look at the overall picture.

"Terrell Owens, J.J. Stokes and Tai Streets deserve the opportunity to play, and I don't want to hold them back. I'll do whatever is possible so they get the opportunity. You have to pass it on. ... But I feel I can still run away from guys and make plays.

"I can't walk away from something that I love and am still capable of doing. I want to finish my career here, but it doesn't look like that's going to happen."

Simple logic: Pittsburgh running back Jerome Bettis said there was nothing wrong with him that a few more opportunities didn't cure.

He ran for 122 yards in 23 carries against the Browns after being held to 8 yards in nine carries in the first game.

"You can be sitting on a gold mine," Bettis said, "but if you don't have a shovel, how can you get it?"

A hard job: Jets linebacker Bryan Cox, the ex-Bear, experienced a terrible off-season with the deaths of friend Derrick Thomas of the Chiefs, an uncle and a former high school teacher.

He also went through a divorce.

"If I had to do it over again I would have retired a couple of years ago," Cox told a New York reporter, "because my family is the most important thing in my life. I always said I would never let football come between me and my family, but here I am, and it happened.

"We didn't live together [during the season] for five years and we drifted apart. I didn't want it. But it just got to a point where you have to let go. I didn't want it. That's what makes it tough."

Trace of old: Another ex-Bear, Trace Armstrong, keeps on sacking. He'll turn 35 on Oct. 5, and guess who's leading the AFC in sacks with 4 1/2?

"Nothing about the game gets old," Armstrong said. "That's what keeps you going. What gets old is mini-camps and base defenses and learning how to get in a huddle.

"When Dan Marino retired, of all the teammates who stopped playing, this was the hardest one on me. I feel good physically. And given the way I'm being asked to play the last couple of years, I think I can do it for three more years."